#figured I should write up a full impressions post bc I haven't been consistent but like

[loregoddess]

*stares off into the distance pensively* Oh, I am not going to be normal about any of the Live A Live characters am I?

Some first impressions and general thoughts on the Ch1s (sans Oerstead bc I just unlocked him, but I know I'm eventually not going to be well about him either thanks to certain spoilers I know)

Started with Sundown bc, cowboy, there are simply not enough cowboys in fiction that is not explicitly a western imo (Stoker understood this when he wrote Quincy into Dracula), and honestly his Ch1 was great, very interested to see how his story continues, he has about the same number of lines as John Wick though so not much impression on Sundown as a character yet, but I have a gut feeling telling me I'll like him a lot regardless.

Did Masaru's Ch1 next bc he uh, looks like a Modern!AU Asougi DGS, and honestly, it was good I played his chapter next bc I figured out the gist of the battle system like, waaay better than I did w/ Sundown. I liked the classic arcade fighter feel to how his chapter was setup, but man, I have barely any idea of his characterization either. The love for Tekken I have that's usually sleeping appreciates Masaru though, so just for the Tekken vibes alone I think I'll like him.

After that I played Cube's Ch1 bc, he's just a little dude! He's so cute! *deep breath* Then I proceeded to witness The Horrors. Loved how story-driven Cube's Ch1 was (although I really enjoyed his Ch1 boss fight, so I'm looking forward to actually getting to fight w/ Cube more), but man, what the fuck...I will not be normal about this little robot who looks like a sentient volleyball with sneakers and a cap. Really liked Kato's character too, absolutely dreading (in a good way) where this story arc will go though bc like, Ch1 was a weird combo of 2001 A Space Odyssey and Alien, and soooo compelling and dark, but also, that's just a little guy, he isn't even 24 hrs. old, leave him be.

Oboromaru Ch1 was next which like, loved it. MGS but make it Edo period Japan with ninjas. Went for the lowest possible kill count bc being offered to stealth my way through something and not kill all the NPCs was too reminiscent of MGS (which rewards the player for non-lethal runs) for me to pass up. A bit frustrating though bc Ode Castle is so fucking huge and it took me a while to figure out I would, in fact, have to kill the guard to get the cell key, but once I got the story actually in motion I had a lot of fun (even if I had to level grind off of ghosts due to my dedication to killing as few NPCs as possible). Really curious to see what turn the story will take now that Oboromaru's working for Ryoma.

Played Pogo Ch1 next, which was so goofy and fun, very good comic relief to balance out The Horrors. Not too many thoughts bc really, the chapter was fun, Pogo and his friends are fun, I appreciate the absurdist mid-90s caveman aesthetics.

Then played Akira's Ch1, and honestly going in I was mostly like "why does this kid look like a YuGiOh character?" but now? That's my son and if anyone hurts him I'm gonna start flinging bricks at them. Really enjoyed his Ch1 (except the battle against W-1, that was so hard for some reason), I'm not even a really big mech fan, but the general vibes and the depth of characterization for all the characters was just, so, so good. Also one of the fun "okay, this is a neat--what the fuck" moments when I got into the liquefied humans room. Really glad the writers decided the "near future" and "distant future" chapters would just be fucked up.

The Earthen Heart Shifu was the last Ch1 I played (to unlock Oerstead who is the last-last Ch1 I'll be playing I guess), but damn did it hit hard. Was not expecting to get all teared up about pixels but like--I knew from out-of-context spoilers that I'd end up with only one of the students, but I wasn't expecting the other two to get murdered. Anyhow, Lei ended up being my final set character (I loved all the students, but I knew whoever I trained more would be my main playable character and I liked her moveset/personality a lot, but damn, I'm gonna miss Hong and Yun a lot, they were cool too). What a story, like, just rip my heart out will ya, the ending got me. But I'm way more interested in how Lei's story will progress than when I came in not knowing really jack (also, probably my favorite character to use in combat so far, she's so versatile).

Overall, I really enjoy the diversity of gameplay and narrative styles depending on the character/era. Now that I have a handle on the combat system, it's super fun (was not sure how I'd like fighting on a grid system, but as soon as I found out I wasn't on a timer a la OG FF7, I was like, okay, I can make this work, I can still take my sweet time thinking), and the art and music is great too.

Love, love, love all the stories so far, I know some major spoilers (i.e. Odio is the Main Big Bad, Oerstead will eventually get possessed? by Odio? or something? and becomes the final boss?), but honestly that hasn't ruined anything for me so far bc I knew so little about all the main characters that I'm really enjoying learning their characterization and stories, and knowing Odio is the final big bad means I get a chuckle out of picking up on the naming scheme for all the chapter bosses (honestly, hats off to the writers/localizers for figuring out all the different ways to hide "Odio" in various names).

Very excited to see where the story/stories go, it's super fun so far.